Facebook Now Lets You Cast Videos To TV

You can now cast videos from your Facebook Newsfeed directly to your TV. This new feature allows streaming Facebook videos on your TV through AppleTV, Airplay devices, Google Chromecast and other Google Cast devices.

Available on iOS, Coming Soon to Android

For now this feature is available on the iOS version of the Facebook app. It will become available on Android soon. This could further increase video ad revenue for Facebook and also increasing usage time. Being able to view videos on your TV screen is always preferable to watching it on your phone.

How to Use It

To use this feature on the app, you just need to find a video to stream to your TV. Tap or click on the TV icon on the top right (works on the web version as well) and select the device you want to stream to.

While you’re streaming a video you can continue using Facebook as you please in the background. you can watch this video here:

https://www.facebook.com/fbmedia/videos/1216914131683337/

Late to the party?

The social media giant started testing the new streaming feature on Android back in May this year. The iOS version began testing likewise in August. This isn’t the first time Facebook has tested something related to streaming videos before. Back in 2011, they added an option to cast via Airplay from the iPad app.

Competitors like YouTube already have well established ways to stream content to TVs. Facebook is making sure it doesn’t stay behind in the race. Casting on YouTube also lets you queue videos to watch one after the other in a sequence, this could be a useful feature for Facebook’s casting options as well.

The key thing with Facebook is the fact that its everywhere, so allowing more platforms for streaming videos is an obvious thing. Nevertheless this is a welcome feature from Facebook and we would love to see it improve over time.

Skype For Linux: Microsoft Launches Alpha Client To Replace Aging App

Microsoft Corp. launched an alpha version of a new Linux client for its Skype chat and calling service, very tellingly named Skype for Linux Alpha. In a blog post Wednesday that announced the launch, the company said the client “is not a fully functioning Skype client yet” but had been launched anyway because it wants “to get it [the client] in your hands as soon as possible.”

Pointing out some of the differences between the new app and the version it replaces, the blog says users will “be using the latest, fast and responsive Skype UI, you can share files, photos and videos and send a whole new range of new emoticons.” The company is also asking for users to test the app and provide feedback so it can prioritize which features it should work on adding, improving or fixing.

Skype also seems keen on phasing out its older Linux client. Using the new alpha version, “you will be able to call your friends and family on the latest versions of Skype on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, but you won’t be able to make or receive calls to and from the previous versions of Skype for Linux (4.3.0.37).”

Linux users can download Skype for Linux Alpha from here.

Another feature announced Wednesday was the alpha version of Skype based on WebRTC (an interface that supports browser-to-browser communication without additional plugins). Using the same features as the new Linux client, it is targeted at users of Chromebook and Chrome on Linux. The offering for the Chrome browser will expand over the next few months to include landlines and cellphones as well, the company said.

If you have an existing Skype account, the WebRTC version can be accessed using this link.

Skype was first released in 2003 and Microsoft bought the company in 2011 for $8.5 billion.